Richard L. Smith is the Associate Dean and Professor of Financial Management at Claremont Graduate University. Professor Smith is also Director of the Financial Engineering Management Program and Director of the Venture Finance Institute. He has published numerous articles in academic financial journals, with his most recent research centering on venture capital. Professor Smith was formerly on the faculties of Arizona State University, and Case Western Reserve University. He has consulted with numerous major corporations including Chrysler Corporation, Citibank, General Electric and Morgan Stanley. Professor Smith's consulting is related to valuation, antitrust economics, capital raising, and securities litigation. His recent publications include Entrepreneurial Finance (Wiley, 2000) as well as papers in various academic journals.

[From Amazon] Smith and Smith apply current thinking in the areas of valuation, real options, and the economics of contracts to new venture decision making. Readers learn to think of new ventures as portfolios of real options, value financial claims of the entrepreneur and venture capital investors, and structure financial contracts in light of new venture information problems. They also learn to use simulation and scenario analysis to evaluate the implications of uncertainty and financial decisions.